article by Lesa Lakin
Spinach might just be the coolest vegetable in the game right now. Did you know October is Spinach Awareness Month? Yeah, neither did I… but the NFL Network and Popeye Spinach sure did and they’ve done something pretty cool. As part of a fun segment for NFL AM, Popeye Spinach supplied 400 cans of spinach to create a motivating backdrop while hosts Erin Coscarelli and Rhett Lewis discuss the best players of the week with analysts Terrell Davis and LaVar Arrington. Rhett, LaVar and Terrell give their picks (the players that have clearly eaten their spinach and performed well and those who may need to well… eat a bit more). It’s engaging and super fun… well maybe not so much for the players who have had a rough week.
Check it out…it makes for some interesting weekly recaps:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioTXf-boUMM&w=560&h=315]
Allens Popeye Spinach and the NFL Network donated the cans to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank. The LA Regional Food Bank is dedicated to mobilizing resources to fight hunger in the community.
Posts tagged as “nfl”
NFL: Jacksonville Jaguar Red Bryant Tackles Learning Disabilities By Sharing his Story with Students
Red Bryant is giving back in the best way possible… a meaningful one. The Jacksonville Jaguars defensive end is speaking to students not about his battles on the football field, but about his personal battle with dyslexia (a medical condition that causes difficulty in language processing and reading), inspiring and empowering students with learning disabilities along the way.
Diagnosed by the third grade, Red had to overcome his own frustrations and challenges as a student to make it to college and eventually the NFL. Fortunately for Red he had a mentor in his high school teacher, Sue Brooks. Sue played a pivotal role in Red’s life and was one of the first people that helped him realize just because he learned differently didn’t mean he was not intelligent. It’s a powerful message that children and adults with learning disabilities need to hear. He shared this message when he visited students at R.L. Brown Elementary School’s GRASP Choice Academy, a program in the Duval County school system that focuses on children with learning disabilities. Red spoke about his personal challenges with dyslexia.
“I just wanted to let these kids know that it’s okay to learn differently and that just because you’re a different learner than everyone else, that doesn’t mean that you aren’t smart,” Bryant said.
He feels that this program in the Duval County school system is giving children the necessary tools to be successful in the classroom.
Bryant’s own connection to the education system runs deep. Sue Brooks had an incredible impact on his life and now he is giving back. The story is a fascinating one. When one person takes the time and energy to lift, push, encourage and nurture a child the effects can be life altering and astounding. Sue and Red had a bond that led her to help him not only during the recruitment process, but with getting to college and the ACT test. Sue figured out a way to verbally administer the test by getting the clearance to read it to him after several traditional tests had negative results that weren’t indicative of Red’s academic prowess. She was an integral part of Red’s success and always encouraging education and inspiring him to pay it forward.
Bryant plans on making frequent stops by the classrooms to monitor the children’s progression throughout the school year.
To watch the engaging Red Bryant speaking to students, click here:
http://www.jaguars.com/media-gallery/videos/Red-Bryant-in-the-Community-/bda579f5-7279-4bd5-ba01-5199c59bf3e5
Did you know….
Dyslexia is the most common learning disability and that one in five people suffer from it. Learn more:
https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-dyslexia
For more information about the GRASP Choice Academy program:
http://www.duvalschools.org/grasp
GBN Lifestyle/Sports Editor
ARLINGTON, Texas —DeMarco Murray may have eclipsed former Cleveland Browns icon Jim Brown as the first back in league history to start a season by running for at least 100 yards in seven straight games.
But the fourth-year Dallas Cowboys workhorse knows he has a long way to go to reach the Hall of Famer’s elite level after his 128-yard, one-touchdown performance keyed a 31-21 defeat of the New York Giants Sunday.
“He’s probably one of the greatest running backs to ever play, and I have a lot of respect for what he’s done,” Murray said. “In no way am I trying to say I’m on his level by any means. He’s a great guy, a great activist in the community, a great player and a great person. And I’m not even in that category.
“I’m blessed to be mentioned.”
Murray, who leads the league in rushing with 913 yards and seven touchdowns, made history with his 1-yard run on the first carry of the fourth quarter, shaking off a gimpy right ankle that buckled on him late in the second quarter. He gave credit to his offensive linemen who kept prying open lanes against a Giants defense that stacked defenders in the box.
“That kid has had ‘professional’ written all over him since the day he walked in. He stepped back in there after wrenching his ankle and competed.”
And he’s the engine who makes these 6-1 Cowboys go.
Early morning gift package from the Jets…thanks! http://t.co/UL552HIIk3 pic.twitter.com/PhIize97Yo
— Devon Still (@devonjstill) October 13, 2014
Devon Still has been making headlines over the past few months after the Cincinnati Bengals added the tackle to their practice squad, enabling Still to get health insurance to take care of his four year-old daughter Leah’s cancer treatment.
Bengals and NFL fans have been incredibly supportive of Still’s daughter’s struggle, and last week the New England Patriots’ cheerleading squad showed their support by donning jerseys of the Bengals’ player during Sunday’s game.
Still was incredibly appreciative of the gesture, as the image above captured by a Twitter user showed the player with gracious tear streaming down his cheek.
Devon Still’s daughter is still in the hospital, and yesterday the New Jersey Jets showed their support and camaraderie by sending Leah a gift package. Gestures like this from the NFL community have to lift everyone’s spirit after another long Sunday.
article via abc7news.com and sbnation.com; additional reporting by Lesa Lakin
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_rdP7SqIBY&w=560&h=315]
On the field, twin NFL defensive backs Devin McCourty (New England Patriots) and Jason McCourty (Tennessee Titans) often compete, but off the field these brothers have joined forces for a cause that hits close to home. Inspired by their aunt, the McCourty Twins are bringing awareness to sickle cell disease through their “Tackle Sickle Cell” campaign.
“Growing up, when I was younger, I knew my aunt had a disease, but I didn’t totally understand what she went through and everything involved,” Devin shared in a recent interview. Devin recalls their aunt’s strength and it wasn’t until they were much older that they began to see her different struggles and the complications of the disease. Seeing the direct impact sickle cell was having on her life inspired them to bring awareness and help as many people as possible with sickle cell.
Through their partnership with the Embrace Kids Foundation, the McCourty’s Tackle Sickle Cell initiative is a platform to help them increase awareness, educate and raise funds. Signature events include a 5k walk, casino nights and blood drives. “If we can just keep raising awareness and getting more people involved they can realize this is a serious disease and the more people that are helped and the more that know about it and donate to it, the better it can be.”
According to the CDC, sickle cell disease affects as many as 100,000 people in the U.S. and occurs in nearly 1 out of every 500 African-American births. The twins were tested for sickle cell at age five because their father carried the trait. Although both tested negative, Devin shares that learning about the disease helped him to offer better support to his aunt and his uncle, who also has sickle cell disease. He encourages people who have friends and loved ones with the disease to also become more educated to offer support.
For parents raising children with sickle cell disease, Devin shares that being involved with sports doesn’t have to be off limits. “If you can’t play, it doesn’t mean you can’t be involved, or it doesn’t mean you can’t learn about it. Whether that’s going and being on a team and being a player/assistant coach for the team and learning about whatever sport it is.” Sickle disease doesn’t have to sideline children; they just have to move at their own pace.
In recognition of Sickle Cell Awareness Month, the McCourty twins released a new PSA video that you can check out above. If you would like to join the fight to tackle sickle cell, visit their website www.tacklesicklecell.org, donate blood at a local drive and continue to spread awareness that sickle cell disease affects more people than we may think.
article via blackdoctor.org
On the field, twin NFL defensive backs Devin McCourty (New England Patriots) and Jason McCourty (Tennessee Titans) often compete, but off the field these brothers have joined forces for a cause that hits close to home. Inspired by their aunt, the McCourty Twins are bringing awareness to sickle cell disease through their “Tackle Sickle Cell” campaign.
“Growing up, when I was younger, I knew my aunt had a disease, but I didn’t totally understand what she went through and everything involved,” Devin shared in a recent interview. Devin recalls their aunt’s strength and it wasn’t until they were much older that they began to see her different struggles and the complications of the disease. Seeing the direct impact sickle cell was having on her life inspired them to bring awareness and help as many people as possible with sickle cell.
Through their partnership with the Embrace Kids Foundation, the McCourty’s Tackle Sickle Cell initiative is a platform to help them increase awareness, educate and raise funds. Signature events include a 5k walk, casino nights and blood drives. “If we can just keep raising awareness and getting more people involved they can realize this is a serious disease and the more people that are helped and the more that know about it and donate to it, the better it can be.”According to the CDC, sickle cell disease affects as many as 100,000 people in the U.S. and occurs in nearly 1 out of every 500 African-American births. The twins were tested for sickle cell at age five because their father carried the trait. Although both tested negative, Devin shares that learning about the disease helped him to offer better support to his aunt and his uncle, who also has sickle cell disease. He encourages people who have friends and loved ones with the disease to also become more educated to offer support.
For parents raising children with sickle cell disease, Devin shares that being involved with sports doesn’t have to be off limits. “If you can’t play, it doesn’t mean you can’t be involved, or it doesn’t mean you can’t learn about it. Whether that’s going and being on a team and being a player/assistant coach for the team and learning about whatever sport it is.” Sickle disease doesn’t have to sideline children; they just have to move at their own pace.
In recognition of Sickle Cell Awareness Month, the McCourty twins released a new PSA video that you can check out above. If you would like to join the fight to tackle sickle cell, visit their website www.tacklesicklecell.org, donate blood at a local drive and continue to spread awareness that sickle cell disease affects more people than we may think.
article via blackdoctor.org
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson became the first contributor to Derek Jeter’s new website, The Players’ Tribune, on Thursday, using the forum to urge people to donate money to an organization that deals with the problem of domestic violence.
When Jeter started the website Wednesday he promised to offer athletes a forum to communicate with fans without the filter of the news media. He followed through quickly with an essay by Wilson, whose profile was boosted by Seattle’s Super Bowl victory in February. Wilson described himself as a “recovering bully” in the essay, and called for people to talk more openly about the problem of domestic violence.
“This issue is much bigger than N.F.L. suspensions,” Wilson wrote. “Domestic violence isn’t going to disappear tomorrow or the next day. But the more that we choose not to talk about it, the more we shy away from the issue, the more we lose.”
Wilson, 25, said that he was a bully as a child, but that he dealt with his anger issues and now believes there is no place for violence off the field.
BALTIMORE — Ma’ake Kemoeatu missed his final collegiate football game because the NCAA suspended him for improperly providing textbooks to his younger brother.
He was a four-year starter at Utah on scholarship and his little brother Tevita was a walk-on. Their parents didn’t have enough money to buy books, so Ma’ake bought them for him and therefore couldn’t play in the Las Vegas Bowl against USC.
But Ma’ake wasn’t trying to cause trouble. The oldest of seven kids, he steps up for his family when they need help.
So when his brother Chris needed a kidney transplant this past August, Ma’ake, a former nose tackle for the Baltimore Ravens, didn’t hesitate when he heard the news. He was going to donate.
When Chris was in eighth grade, he started having kidney pain. Over the years, as he grew into a 6-foot-3, 385-pound lineman for Utah and go on to win two Super Bowls with the Pittsburgh Steelers, the pain got worse.
He played through it. Training camp, regular season practice, games and playoffs. With what was later discovered to be a form of kidney disease. He grew up in a tough family. A family that rarely said ‘I love you’ not because they didn’t have feelings, that’s just how it was.
“I’ve seen him struggle and the last three years of his career, fighting through a lot because of his kidney,” Ma’ake said at a press conference at the University of Maryland Medical Center on Wednesday. “When we found out he needed a transplant, we had to stop our careers because his health was most important to us.”
After the 2011 season, the pain was too much and Chris stopped playing football. Ma’ake ended his career with the Ravens after the 2012 season to be with his brother.
In early 2013, Chris met with Dr. Matthew Weir, a nephrologist at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Chris learned then that he had advanced kidney disease and needed a transplant. Ma’ake immediately said he would be the donor. And he was a 99% match.
“The doctor said we could pass as twins to do this surgery,” Ma’ake said. “My dad wanted to do it, and we kind of got into it because I didn’t want him to do it. I’m the oldest of seven kids so it was my responsibility to take care of my younger brothers and sisters.
“If my brother or any of my siblings needed blood, they have to have my blood. If any of my siblings needed a kidney, it would have to be my kidney.”
Ma’ake had to pause for a second as tears welled in his eyes.
“My dad wanted to do it so bad,” he said. “I had to stop him. But the credit goes to my brother because he had so many flare ups. He had to go into training camp and had to fight through the pain and get ready for the season.”
Before Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Carolina Panthers running back DeAngelo Williams dyed his trademark dreadlocks pink and painted his toenails pink in honor of his late mother, Sandra Hill, who lost her battle with breast cancer in May.
Williams has been at the forefront of the NFL’s breast cancer awareness campaign and is credited with persuading the league to allow players to wear pink in October for breast cancer awareness month.
Williams hasn’t done interviews since his mother’s death, other than a first-person article in May for Peter King’s “Monday Morning Quarterback” website.
I
n the piece, Williams discussed with great passion what his mother meant to him and how his four aunts also died of cancer. He talked about his mother’s smile, how she always was there for others fighting the cancer.
“Breast cancer, whether I like it or not, is part of my family’s story,” wrote Williams. “That’s why I am so passionate about raising awareness, because I have seen firsthand how it can impact others.”
Williams helped Carolina overcome the absence of injured quarterback Cam Newton on Sunday, rushing for a team-high 72 yards in the Panthers’ 20-14 victory.
article by Adam Scheffer via espn.go.com
ESPN.com Panthers reporter David Newton contributed to this report.
Michael Sam, who made international headlines last spring as the first openly gay athlete to be drafted to an NFL team, has been signed to the Dallas Cowboys practice squad, having passed his physical exam, team officials said today.
Sam, 23, who was signed to the St. Louis Rams as a seventh-round draft pick, but got cut from that team over the weekend, came out to the public at the end of his NCAA season at Mizzou earlier this year.
After being cut by the Rams, no NFL team stepped forward to pick the defensive lineman up–until yesterday. Sam flew to Dallas on a moment’s notice last night, for today’s physical, and Sam will wear jersey #46 for the team this season.
“Michael Sam is just too good–he was the [SEC Defensive player of the Year] at Mizzou, there’s just no way he can’t play at the NFL level,” said Super Bowl winning, former Baltimore Ravens QB Brandon Ayanbadejo, a longtime advocate of LGBT rights.
After coming out, Sam’s draft ranking plunged, leading many observers to wonder if the NFL was really ready for an openly gay player. “the fact that no team took the opportunity to sign Sam after the Rams cut him, speaks volumes,” OutSports editor Cyd Ziegler observed, but added, “The Cowboys make a great fit for him.”
Although Dallas is in the heart of a state seen by the LGBT community as among the most homophobic in the country, Cowboys officials “welcome [Sam] to our football family, as we do every other player who signs with us.”Head coach Jason Garrett said Sam would be an asset to the club. “We just want to give him a chance to come in and help our football team,” Garrett noted. “That’s where our attention is (football). What people say outside the organization is up to them.”
The Cowboys joined NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s Respect At Work program, developed with the help of Wade Davis, an out former NFL player who now heads the You Can Play project.
The program is designed to create a “safe, welcoming environment” for gay athletes. Sam’s addition to the Cowboys’ practice squad also opens up opportunities for him to make the main team, whose defensive line has performed poorly in recent years.
Sam says the Cowboys were his favorite team while he was growing up in Texas.
article by Nathan James via gbmnews.com
The Cowboys joined NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s Respect At Work program, developed with the help of Wade Davis, an out former NFL player who now heads the You Can Play project.
The program is designed to create a “safe, welcoming environment” for gay athletes. Sam’s addition to the Cowboys’ practice squad also opens up opportunities for him to make the main team, whose defensive line has performed poorly in recent years.
Sam says the Cowboys were his favorite team while he was growing up in Texas.
article by Nathan James via gbmnews.com
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Patent Office ruled Wednesday that the Washington Redskins nickname is “disparaging of Native Americans” and that the team’s federal trademarks for the name must be canceled.
The 2-1 ruling comes after a campaign to change the name gained momentum over the past year. The team doesn’t immediately lose trademark protection and is allowed to retain it during an appeal, which is likely.
Redskins owner Dan Snyder has refused to change the team’s name, citing tradition, but there has been growing pressure including statements in recent months from President Barack Obama, lawmakers of both parties and civil rights groups.
The decision means that the team can continue to use the Redskins name, but it would lose a significant portion of its ability to protect the financial interests connected to its use. If others printed the name on sweatshirts, apparel, or other team material, it becomes more difficult to go after groups who use it without permission.
The case involves six registered trademarks that involve the use of the word Redskins, but it does not apply to the team’s logo.